Kongming lantern
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According to popular lore, the Kongming Lantern (Chinese: 孔明灯) was the first hot air balloon, said to be invented by the sage and military strategist Zhuge Liang, [1] whose reverent term of address (i.e. Chinese style name) was Kongming. It is likely that this technological discovery is misattributed because of the Chinese historical practice of attributing great discoveries to significant historical figures rather than to the actual inventors. According to the sinologist and historian of science Joseph Needham, the Chinese experimented with mini-hot air balloons from as early as the 3rd century BC - which suggests that the attribution of its invention to Kongming is indeed apocryphal.
[edit] Use of the Kongming Lantern
First deployed as a type of signaling balloon or, it is claimed, as a type of spy blimp in warfare. Later non-military applications were employed as they became popular with children at carnivals. These lanterns were subsequently incorporated into festivals like the Chinese Mid-Autumn and Lantern Festivals.
